Well known examples

From older mythologies

Having taken on many different forms in the popular imagination throughout history, the most common modern conception, which became very popular in the early 20th century, is somewhat like a more elegant (usually somewhat angelic) version of the Peter Pan character Tinkerbell — a small, flying, female humanoid.

In modern times

Sometimes affectionately called Nessie, this dinosaur- or serpent-like creature is currently thought by some to reside within Loch Ness, a narrow yet deep body of water near Inverness in Scotland, UK. Nessie and Loch Ness are popular attractions, with thousands of tourists arriving each year in the hope of catching a glimpse of the creature. Many examples of purported photographic and video evidence (much of it mutually contradictory) have been offered by amateurs, but systematic investigations of Loch Ness have failed to provide conclusive evidence of any such creature. The peak of interest to this creature was in the middle of the 20th century. It was then when several witnesses said they saw some creature in the lake. Then the famous black-and-white photograph of some unknown creature appeared. Though, later this photograph was examined and proved to be a fake, since it was not a monstrous creature, but a small submarine decorated to resemble Nessie. Finally, in the 21th century scientists proved that there can be no such a creature in Drumnadrochit Lochs.

Usually reptilian creatures that are similar to large lizards or dinosaurs (mainly in the European tradition), or snake-like serpents (mainly in oriental traditions). Although the King James Bible uses the words "serpent", "dragon" and "Devil" in a fairly interchangeable manner, the first mentions of a dragon-like creature is in Job 26:13 and Isaiah 27:1, where it is called Nachash Bare'ach, or "Pole Serpent".[4]

Use in counter-apologetics

Because most theists agree that non-religious mythical creatures do not really exist, they often serve as good substitutes for God (or angels, etc.) in counter-apologetics, either to show the weakness of a theist's argument, or to show the reasonableness of a corresponding counter-argument — especially in the context of the reasonableness of belief without evidence, or the nature of burden of proof when applied to issues of existence.